Because if we're going to try and stop the misuse of our favorite comics and their protagonists by the companies that write and publish them, we've got to see what both the printed and online comics news is doing wrong. This blog focuses on both the good and the bad, the newspaper media and the online websites. Unabashedly. Unapologetically. Scanning the media for what's being done right and what's being done wrong.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Gerry Conway predictably opposes Comicsgate

This doesn't surprise me, recalling some of Conway's rabid leftism. He first pointed to the Buzzfeed smear, and then went on act as apologist for the social justice machine:

Uh...what? Who says “white peoples can't be superheroes?” I think the argument is that white people shouldn't be ALL the superheroes. If you're going to take an idiot position, at least oppose the actual argument. So you believe only white people should be superheroes? https://t.co/g8jR0uLxWm

The prior management at Marvel under Axel Alonso (and even the management under Dan DiDio at DC in the mid-2000s) basically said specific whites can no longer be superheroes, much as their apologists pretend it wasn't the case. And no one's saying whites should comprise all the superheroes. I'm a fan of Black Panther, Black Lightning, Misty Knight, Storm, Sunfire, John Stewart of the GLC, Blade, Cyborg, Colleen Wing, Firebird, Vixen, Monica Rambeau/Capt. Marvel 2, Jim Rhodes, and I also want to note that Vibe, Conway's Latino creation for the Justice League Detroit era, shouldn't have been knocked off as he was at the end of the 1960-87 series' run. But, I get the strange feeling Conway doesn't care, ironically or not. Predictably, Gerry refuses to consider any and all examples where replacement of an established white protagonist with a POC or a woman was forced and contrived for the sake of it, or worse, for the sake of forcing bad ideologies into the Big Two's output (eg-the Muslim Ms. Marvel).

Yes. Exactly. The rabid alt-righters in comics refuse to accept comic book heroes have ALWAYS been representational of minorities and outsiders, even if not explicitly so. Ben Grimm is Jewish. So is Hal Jordan (at least I've always thought so). Eat that, anti-Semites. https://t.co/ChQLXvyzQ5

This from the same guy who once made offensive statements about Israel, and I don't know if he's ever apologized for it. Granted, he did condemn Ardian Syaf last year for stealthing anti-Judeo/Christian messages into the backgrounds of his illustrations for X-Men Gold, but he's still given suggestions he has a lenient view of Islam, and if he still does, then I can't take the above at face value. Though I'll have to admit it's a flattering idea to think of Hal Jordan as a metaphor for a Jewish protagonist. Maybe that's why Ron Marz and Dan Jurgens' transformation of Hal into a murderous tyrant called Parallax is so revolting.

As for Ben Grimm as a Jewish character, I know it was written into the Fantastic Four in 2001 (I have the back issue #56 in my collection somewhere), but I don't think it was ever mentioned decades prior, if at all. Though I will say that if Conway still holds views I find ghastly, that's why he has no business complaining about anti-semitism if he holds reprehensible views on Israel.

It isn't as if “diversity” is code for eliminating the overwhelming number of white or European characters from comics. I don't understand why the addition or replacement of a few characters to reflect cultural reality is so threatening to these mental adolescents. https://t.co/yMWcBMUiiv

I don't understand why he thinks a black girl has to replace Tony Stark wholesale as Iron Man, and an Asian guy has to replace Bruce Banner as the Hulk (along with stereotypical comments like "totally awesome"), and a Muslim character has to replace Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel. On which note, I also gotta wonder if he sees nothing wrong with Carol being illustrated as horrifically masculine. In a way, he's entirely rejected his development of Carol as Ms. Marvel in 1977 with John Buscema. And maybe that's because, while he co-developed the superheroine role, Carol wasn't his own creation - she was introduced as a civilian cast member in March 1968 in Marvel Super Heroes #13, co-created by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan. So in a way, he's insulting one of Thomas' creations, recalling he implied a negative stance today towards the guy because Thomas doesn't agree with the SJW notion Iron Fist's racial background should be changed to Asian in a TV show. Or, put another way, Conway doesn't respect past creations enough to recommend creating new characters in their very own roles. His ultra-leftist stance, alas, plays a part in this.

Yeah, no. And there's no such thing as “alt left.” Those of us in the real world live in a multicultural society filled with adult men and women. That's not “alt” anything. That's reality. https://t.co/I8Z2hovMl2

No kidding. You mean to say it's virtually impossible?!? Wow, now there's somebody who narrows his vision accordingly! Then, replying to a post about anybody harassing over comics being human garbage (an idea he must've gotten from Anita Sarkeesian when she attacked Carl Benjamin), he says:

If you're going to harass someone at least do it over something that really matters, like their taste in music. https://t.co/lcqr7WSMI5

I think they actually stopped being diverse nearly 2 decades ago, when conservatives like Chuck Dixon were blacklisted (and this around the time Bush Jr. was elected, which could explain why Joe Quesada must've shunned him at the time).

Sounds like you're arguing that a “diversity” story must be better than your average comic book story in order to be justifiable. What about all the mediocre or “bad” stories featuring traditional white heroes? Good or bad has nothing to do with diverse. https://t.co/rw37L0zhJ6

Sorry, but it does, just as much as it does with white heroes too. A story featuring a diversity-pandering creation can also be quite boring, and pretty much all these recent stunts Marvel/DC pulled were, and found no sizable audience to justify their existence.

He's also got some more political tweets to offer:

"Mueller just scored a massive win in the Russia investigation - Business Insider" And it was a win handed to him by Trump. https://t.co/Rm3fg90SEE

Tell us again, "President" Trump, how the stock market is proof you know what you're doing: "Stocks are down for the year, which is most worrisome to the richest Americans - The Washington Post" https://t.co/kKqCPzdSuI

Fans need to realize they don't personally “own” the stories they love-- especially when those stories are part of a shared universe with many creators. Resisting change and reinterpretation is futile and by definition reactionary. It's the opposite of creativity. https://t.co/CJ1jM1RDFb

Nobody resisted change. They just objected to contrived, forced replacement of established heroes for the sake of publicity stunts. Say, is Conway apathetic to Marvel's poor treatment of Jane Foster after they exploited her for said stunts?

He's also got to realize he didn't create Carol Danvers herself; it's Thomas and Colan who did. And that his positions are insulting to them, after all the hard work they did to create her in the first place. Yes, seriously.

Ah, pulps. I do love them. Even when they dispense with overt sexism it's only to embrace naked racism. An innocent time before kids had even a smidgen of cultural awareness. Gotta love it (ironically). https://t.co/wYbnU8S7gp

Suppose they stop leading these transgender lifestyles and just be themselves? If anything, men shouldn't be doing it as an excuse to enter the ladies' room, and if that's why Trump's taking these steps to protect women's privacy, then Conway might want to respect it...lest he be considered sexist!

It isn't, but it's an unfortunate consequence of the publishers' dependency on the direct sale comic store market. Dwindling audience gives the most outspoken and opinionated an outsized voice-- which just shrinks the audience further, in an endless downward spiral. https://t.co/Hu3DKAjqdt

If he'd argue comics should turn to trades only and abandon monthly pamphlet formats, his argument would be more convincing. Or they could at least lower prices to less than even 3 dollars. I think Alterna's publishing some for only $1.50, which is certainly less by today's standards than what even IDW's charging for their pamphlets. Alas, Conway's uppity liberalism must be getting in the way of thinking creatively.

And again, it's a terrible shame this is what Conway's like today. He may not have always held such degrading visions, but his degenerations into such leftism - which I recall seeing in a handful of TV show episodes he wrote in the 1990s - certainly don't help his image from a modern perspective. I do think it's high time he stopped wasting so much time on Twitter and just got back to writing in books and TV, if that'd at least ensure he'll be more respectful than he's been in the past several years.

The ban on transgendered people in the military was in effect for many years, including the first seven of the Obama administration. Obama only lifted the ban to score points with LGBTs, to boost Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Transgendered people have to regularly have treatment to boost estrogen and suppress testosterone, or vice versa. And active duty military people may be stationed in remote places where the treatment is not available.

Barring trans people from the military is not the same as barring people based on benign characteristics, such as race. It is more like disqualifying people who have asthma or diabetes. That is, some people have medical conditions that would impair their ability to do their duties. Trans people have special needs, medically, that the military cannot always accommodate.

Ben Grimm always had a New York Jewish rhythm to his speech (although Stan Lee said he modeled Ben’s speech after Jimmy Durante) and the Yancy Street that Ben grew up on was named after Delancey Street, in the heart of one of New York’s old Jewish neighborhoods. But it was Jack Kirby who first made Ben explicitly Jewish, in a private but much-circulated drawing of him in a tallis and kippah holding a Hebrew prayer book. The Kesel story in Fantastic Four 56 brought this into the canon of the copyrighted Marvel multi-verse.

Conway, by the way, wrote a Hannukah Justice League story suggesting that Ray Palmer was a non-religious Jew.

The statements you quote Conway making about Israel are not so much about Israel as about American politics. He was pointing out that the current Israeli government has been increasingly catering to and relying on the support of American right-wing evangelical Protestants, while taking for granted and alienating mainstream American Jews. He is not alone; cartoonist Miriam Libicki, who loves Israel, has done her own mini-comic commenting on the irony of this.

Conway’s friend and long-time writing partner Roy Thomas is as pro-diversity as they come. He turned the original Firebrand gay and then replaced him with a female version, replaced Ted Grant with an Hispanic female Wildcat, created a black Amazing Man (albeit one who shared only a name with the original character) and revived the trans-gendered Ultra-Humanite. Increasing the range of national and ethnic backgrounds in comics has been a theme throughout his career, ever since he first created an Irish Banshee and the Mayan Kukulcan. What seems weird is that white Protestant is somehow put forward as the default, and any other kind of character is declared to be an enforced agenda. But if the culture warriors of #comicsberate have shown anything, it is that creating a generic caucasian character is just as political as creating a transgender asian character. Conway’s creation of Ms Marvel never really gelled; the decision to make the character a female version of Mar-Vell, rather than giving her her own agency and costume, never quite worked. In fairness to Conway, he left the series before he could show what he would have done with her. Chris Claremont tried to turn her around. It didn’t work either until Dave Cockrum joined him to revitalize her and give her a new costume that was not a variation on Mar-Vell’s. But the book was cancelled before they could really run with the new version. The Kamala Khan character who took on the name is her own agency, with her own powers and not connected to the Kree hero; she has a well-drawn personality and is grounded in the real world much more than her predecessor, who she looked up to and who served as her mentor.

About me

I'm Avi Green

From Jerusalem, Israel

I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.